If I Were A Boy
by Mimi1239
Summary: Fourteen year old Jordan Conner is a tomboy who lives with her abusive stepfather and mother. One shocking discovery about her stepfather leads Jordan into Castle Rock to look for answers about him and find her real father. Along the way she meets the gang who mistaken her for a boy. Taken place two years after the events of the movie. Read full summary inside!
1. Runaway Girl

If I Were A Boy

**Hello to all fellow Stand By Me fans! I, myself have been a fan of the movie ever since I watched it when I was thirteen turning fourteen two years ago, so I've been reading from the archive since then. This is my first Stand By Me story but not my first story. I have two other stories from the Girl Meets World archive so if you're into the show, check them out! They're called Seven Years in the Nineties and Home is the Hart of the Holidays (prequel to the first story). So yeah, hope you like this story and tell me what you think in a review! Here we go...**

**Disclaimer: I do not own the novella, The Body (written by Stephen King) or the adaptation of the novella, Stand By Me.**

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><p>Summary: Fourteen year old Jordan Conner is a tomboy who lives with her abusive stepfather and a mother who just can't say no to her husband. What happens when Jordan discovers something horrifying about her stepfather and ends up running away to look for answers and find her real father? What happens when she finds herself in Castle Rock and is mistaken for a boy? And along the way she meets the gang? Will they ever discover her secret? Will her stepfather find her? Will she get the answers she wants? Taken place two years after the events of the movie.<p>

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><p><span>Prologue: Jordan's Point of View<span>

_I was thirteen going on fourteen the first time I ran away from home. It happened in the summer of 1961. A real long time ago, it seems like it now. I feel like I went through hell that summer, because of everything that happened. It was the summer that changed my life basically. I made some life-long friends and enemies, got out of the low-life living and made a name for myself. But how I was able to surpass the pain and misery that summer put me through? Well that's a different story..._

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><p><em><strong>Friday, June 29th, 1962, Derry, <strong>__**10:03 A.M**_

It started out like any other typical summer day in the small town of Derry living with my drunken and abusive stepfather and my biological mother who abode by every single damn rule Mark (my stepfather) had. School let out yesterday and so I had nothing better to do than stick my nose in a book or go to my friend, Rachel Aden's house and try to forget the life I lived at home. I was never able to confide in Rachel despite the fact that she was my closest and only friend about the things Mark would do to my mother and I when he was drunk. All the physical, verbal, and emotional abuse. I just couldn't.

I never understood why my mother stood for that. I never understood why she couldn't divorce Mark and live her life single. It was a lot better than being married to that monster for sure. Her excuses were, "He pays the bills," and "I couldn't let you live without a father," and so on.

I hadn't known my real father very well. He left when I was three. He could be dead in a ditch somewhere and I wouldn't have known. I was told by my mother my physical features resembled more of my father than herself. She even said it was he who chose the name Jordan for me. I had light brown hair that was cut up to my ears by Mark once when he was drunk and claimed he wanted me to look like a boy because he wanted a son. Mark wanted me, a girl, to be his son.

"Cynthia, get me another beer this instant!" I heard Mark's slurred drunken voice call to my mother in the living room above me.

I didn't live in some attic like in that fairy tale I can't quite remember the name of now. I was forced to take the basement in spite of the fact that we had extra bedrooms upstairs because those were apparently for the "important business people" Mark had stay with us occasionally to try to suck up to them. When they would come over, Mark would lock me in the basement with the sole key he hid just so that I wouldn't do anything to sabotage the plans he had for his "important business people". So I never got to meet any of them. Mother always kept a stash of food and water hidden deep inside my closet in case the guests wanted to stay for more than just overnight.

Once, when I was eight years old, Mark forgot to unlock the basement door once his guests left. I had run out of food and water by that time and so I was trapped in the basement for three days before Mark remembered me. I hadn't screamed or cried once they found me. Honestly, the time flew so quickly for me because I had been reading so many books I almost forgot where I was. It was that time, if I can remember correctly, when I first began my love for reading.

I was on the last chapter of _To Kill a Mockingbird _when I heard heavy footsteps coming down the basement stairs and barge through the door into my room. It was Mark, slightly drunk.

"What ya doing ya lazy ass, huh?" That was the way Mark talked when he was drunk. Slurring and stumbling over his own words, however, he was much crueler when he was sober because he actually knew what he was doing. Mark stumbled over to where I was sitting on my bed and snatched the book from my fingertips and threw it over his shoulders. "There ain't ever no time for reading. If ya want to be happy in life, all ya need is money." Money was something we had too much of. Money was empowering. Money was what made Mark the way he was.

_Oh yeah. Did I forget to mention we lived in the View?_

I tried my best not to say anything that would upset Mark. Mother always pleaded for me to bite my tongue so that Mark didn't have any excuse to hit me. So that was what I did then.

"Yes sir," I kept saying and nodded my head in agreement the more he kept rambling on about crap.

"You see this?" he smirked evilly as he took out the sole key from his back pocket and dangled it teasingly in front of my face as if I were a dog. "I have some very important clients coming over and you're going to stay here for the rest of the day and tomorrow. If you're good, I'll bring you some water." Suddenly, it was like sober Mark was catching up to him by the way he regained his balance instead of swaying all over the place. He left my room to get ready, but not before locking the door securely behind him.

I wasn't so bumped about being locked in the basement anymore. A few months ago, I found out a way to get through my window without Mark discovering I left. I was a very slim and small girl. My chest was flat so I didn't have to worry about getting my boobs stuck between the window. Before I left I grabbed my green baseball cap and snuck out the window.

Initially, I felt like I had nowhere where I could spend my afternoon, until I realized Rachel was probably at her house. So when I got there, I knocked on her window and she let me in.

"Hey Jor. My parents aren't home, they went to a doctor's appointment with my brothers."

Rachel was the only person at school who I knew wasn't like the rest. She wasn't a snobby Valley girl although her parents were rich like many others. She had chestnut long brown hair and ocean blue eyes. She was a knock out for sure. She had a kind heart and that was what I liked most about her.

"All of them?" I asked incredulously. Rachel was the eldest of five younger brothers.

She shrugged her shoulders like it was no big deal. "Yeah, they probably need some vaccination or something. So what's up?"

I couldn't quite tell her the reason why I was over at her house so unexpectedly. I wish I didn't have to lie to her when she asked me about my home-life. I suspected she knew something was up, but she never asked me about that.

"Just thought I would stop by. It's the first day of summer vacation. What should we do?"

"Let's go to _Sandy's_!" Rachel squealed excitedly. _Sandy's_ was the most popular diner every cool kid hang out at. It was one of the many places I hated going.

"No Rach. _Sandy's _is filled with boys," I groaned. "Let's just stay here."

"Come on Jordan. Please..." Rachel begged, clasping her hands together.

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><p>I reluctantly agreed to go with Rachel to <em>Sandy's<em>. We were so different in many way, so it amazed me sometimes how we were friends. She loved to flirt with boys, and with her looks, it wasn't hard for her to, and I just hated boys period.

When we arrived at _Sandy's _we sat at the counter and ordered two milkshakes. I stuck my nose in my book as Rachel looked around the diner. Immediately, two boys around sixteen came up to us.

"Hi," the blond one began. "Are you available?" he asked Rachel as I had my back turned toward them.

"Well there's nobody else here is there?" she said giggly-like and flipped her long hair over her shoulder.

"Then who is he?" the blond's friend asked, pointing to me. I rolled my eyes, turned around and scowled at them.

"Go to hell," I snarled at them and thankfully they left.

"That wasn't nice," Rachel said to me.

"Didn't you hear them? I had to scare 'em off. They thought I was your freakin' boyfriend. It'd been made pretty clear that you got the beauty in this friendship. I should probably go now, wouldn't want any guy thinking I am their competition." And so then I stormed out of the diner with my book in my hand, a little pissed off that people still confused me as a boy. _Did it mean that I was ugly?_

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><p>It was noon when I past by an small old abandoned house on my way home. I had to sneak back into the basement quickly without Mark finding out. Little did I know, that would be the least of my worries.<p>

_Bam!_

A gun shot inside the abandoned house made me jump in surprise. Nobody else was in sight. The house was practically in the middle of nowhere, I realized then. I hid behind a tree as the door of the abandoned house swung open, and a man I couldn't quite see wiped the blood of his hands with a handkerchief like he had done the job a million times before. He was dressed in a black suit.

He walked toward a black minivan that just pulled up slowly. The van's door slid open as I watched in horror as Mark came out of the van!

_Oh my god, what was happening?!_

"The job is done boss," the man said in a monotone voice to my stepfather.

"Where's the body?" Mark asked with his rough and deep voice.

The man pointed at the back of the house. "I buried him in the backyard." Unexpectedly, Mark grabbed the man by the collar and lifted him up to his eye level.

"Are you a fucking idiot?!" he spat in his face. "Is this what you think I'm paying you for? Do you want the cops coming out here and finding the body in the fucking murder scene?" Mark punched the man in the face and man doubled back over, clutching his bleeding nose in his hand.

"Boss," the man in the driver's seat called back. "I know a place where we can hide the body. There's a forest about an hour from here. Right beside Castle Rock. The Back Harlow Road."

Mark pulled up the man on the ground by the collar once again. "Fine. I'm going to give you fucking dumbasses twenty-four hours to hide the body at Back Harlow Road. If you don't," Mark pulled out a gun from his back pocket, a sly smirk appeared on his face as he put the gun against the man's head. "Boom."

I gasped out loud accidentally and in the process, dropped my book on the ground as my hands flew up to cover my mouth.

"Don't worry about it boss. The body will be hidden in no time. We'll make sure of it."

I stood still behind the tree until I heard the car drive off. Then I took off running home.

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><p>The front door of the house was opened. I ran inside and headed upstairs into my mother's and Mark's bedroom. I hid inside the closet, feeling like I never wanted to come out. What if Mark had realized it was I who witness the whole thing and would want to come and hunt me down?<p>

_Would he kill me?_

That was the question I wondered to myself as I had ran all the way home frantically. He would kill me. That was a sure thing.

I accidentally knocked down a few boxes on the shelf above me. Papers inside a shoebox flew around like feathers. I picked up one of them, and when I realized they were letters, I began to read one:

_Sunday, October 23rd, 1952_

_Dear Cynthia,_

_I went to the supermarket yesterday and I was surprised when I saw you there. I haven't seen Jonathan since you divorced him, but I do know for sure he misses you like crazy. How's little Jordan doing? She should probably be in starting school soon, if she hasn't already done so. I didn't appreciate it when you pretended you didn't know me, but I guess I should understand since it would be awkward to get along with the woman that used to be the love of the life for my brother._

_I heard you got married recently. I wish you all the best of luck Cynthia. I wish I could see Jordan once in a while since she is my niece after all, but I heard you moved to Derry which is too far for me to travel once a week. I just graduated from high school and I'm going to college in Castle Rock. Jonathan also lives here too, but we are not on speaking terms. Jordan is welcomed to come stay with me anytime she wishes, you know that very well friend._

_Your friend,_

_Rita Lorn_

That letter was apparently written nine years ago. Wow, I had an aunt who lived in Castle Rock, the place where Mark's men were going to hide the body.

I flipped and scanned through every letter. They all ended with Rita Lorn reminding my mother that I was welcomed to stay with her anytime I wanted. There was even an address on the back of every letter. The exact same address: 124 Nine Hill, Castle Rock.

There were a bunch of those letters, and I assumed mother never responded back to Rita Lorn. She kept these letters hidden from me all of these years. There must have been a reason why she did that. Did Mark know?

I decided then that I wasn't going to let anybody control my life anymore. I was in control now. My mom always needed a man in her life. She wasn't substantial on her own. If she didn't have a husband, she had nothing. I promised myself that day, I wasn't going to be like that.

I picked up my mother's and Mark's wedding picture that was lying on the floor. I took a good look at it. I was five years old when my life changed for the worse. I was wearing a yellow dress. I had been the flower girl. Mark was smiling in the picture, which surprised me. I almost forgot how easy it was for Mark to convince people he was a good person before catching them in his trap.

Once, my mom secretly told me I had a stepbrother who was disowned by Mark, his father and therefore lived with his mother in Castle Rock. Apparently he was in his early twenties and that was about the only thing my mother ever mentioned about him. I always imagined what he would be like. I imagined then what he would advise me to do in this situation.

Go to Castle Rock and prove Mark was a murderer, or stay here and take another dozen beatings from him?

I told myself I had enough of the hell I was living. The only way Mark was going to be sent to jail was if I went to Castle Rock, find the dead body and in that way, prove Mark and his helpers were guilty of murder.

Mother kept a stash of money which I was lucky to find inside her drawer. I took that with me, the bundle of letters, and a sweater, and made my way out the door, and ran like hell to the bus stop.

I paid the guy behind the counter for a ticket to Castle Rock.

"Here you go sir," he said handing me the ticket, oblivious of my gender.

I rolled my eyes and and checked my watch. It was three o'clock in the afternoon. I would thankfully be there at four.

With enough strength and courage even though I was still scared out of my mind and had no idea what I was about to get myself into, I climbed up the stairs of the bus that would lead me to a journey I would never forget.

_Castle Rock, here I come._

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><p><strong>Author's Note: So yeah, this is the beginning of Jordan's journey to finding answers about her father, and trying to prove that Mark is a criminal. It's only the first chapter so please don't turn it down this early. Tell me what you think so far in a review! In every story, I always answer every review you guys send me in a Tumblr blog that will be linked in my profile so you can check out my responses. I always update my stories once a week and have a schedule on my profile for every update. Chapter 2 will probably be updated around this time.<strong>

**Next chapter, Jordan will meet the gang!**

**"A PILE OF SHIT HAS A THOUSAND EYES." -TEDDY DUCHAMP **

**-Mimi1239**


	2. Welcome to Castle Rock

**Hello! Sorry, I know I said I was going to update a month ago, but then last week I realized this could be a thing I do once a month at least, since I know there aren't a lot of people who come to this archive. I am one of the few people who comes here once in a while to check out any new and great story. And so far I haven't been disappointed. I was very happy to see some of my Girl Meets World friends from my other stories pop by here and leave me a review. Those people would be Ariel and lilLaine02. Don't think I haven't forgotten about this! I never do something without finishing what I started. But that's just me anyway... Okay, now I'd like to give a shout-out to those of you who reviewed my previous chapter: Izout, lilLain02, and Ariel.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own the novella, The Body (written by Stephen King) or the adaption of the novella, Stand By Me.**

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><p><span>Jordan's Point of View<span>

_**Friday, June 29th, Castle Rock, 4:15 P.M**_

I hopped off the bus that lead me to my destination. _Castle Rock._ I couldn't shake off the feeling that I was being watched or followed. I threw my heavy backpack over my shoulder and made my way to the ticket booth to ask for directions.

Ever since I was very young, I had always been independent. On my own, and that was mainly because my mom never babied me, especially when Mark came into the picture. I roll my eyes and scoff now with the thought in my head about how I'd wasted a good chunk of years listening to Mark and doing everything he told me to do. In reality, he shouldn't have come into my life. But there was a reason he did, and I was determined to find out why.

The ticket lady at the counter was this thirty-something year old, tall blonde with rosy lips and implanted breasts bigger than her face. At least that was the way I perceived her to be. She gave me this dirty look like I was the scummiest lowlife that ever existed as she smacked on her gum.

"Can you tell me where...124 Nine Hill is?" I asked as politely as I could reading off one of Rita's letters.

The ticket lady gave me a dirty glare. "I sell tickets, not give directions. Maybe if ya buy a ticket, I'll tell ya what I know."

"I already bought a ticket to come here. I'm just looking for directions," I explained.

"Hey Claire, give the kid a break, would ya?" a man in his late fifties said walking up behind the counter. He seemed a lot friendly than Claire. "I'm the manager. What'd ya need to know boy?" Oh right. They thought I was a boy. The baseball cap didn't help prove otherwise.

I didn't care to correct them so I just responded, "I'm looking for this direction," I answered, showing him the letter. His eyebrows raised in surprised.

"That's Rita's place." Wow, it was amazing. I didn't even need to tell him who I was looking for. He automatically knew who lived there! _This town is smaller than I thought._

"Yeah. I'm her niec- um, nephew." The man didn't seem to notice my slip up. As he told me how to get there, Claire stood beside him with her arms cross over her chest, staring down at me with disgust. I assumed she didn't have a lot of friends.

"Need anything else?" the man asked.

"No, that would be all. Thank you."

"Ooh, a polite little fella, I see," Claire muttered under her breath sarcastically. "Welcome to Castle Rock sweetie," she said in a sarcastic and bitchy tone. _Seriously, what's her problem?_

At least I left the bus station knowing where I was headed. Only mere hours before, all I had to worry about was getting back into the basement on time before Mark would notice I left. Life's funny I guess.

It was close to five o'clock. It was hot and I was starving. I mentally thanked Rita Lorn for living close to the bus station. It was the heat talking, I guess. When I finally got to 124 Nine Hill, I knocked on the front door. A medium height redhead woman with a skimpy bartender waitress outfit answered the door.

"Yes?" she asked as she hooked on some hoop earrings to her ears while looking down at the ground, like she had something on her mind. I was completely shocked by this. I did not imagine Rita Lorn to look like this. "Can you make it quick? I'm late for work." She looked up to see me when she noticed I wasn't responding. "Look, if you're here to sell me something, I'm not interesting," she said about to close the door. I stuck my foot out before she could do so.

"No, wait! You're Rita Lorn, right?"

"Yeah, whose asking?" Rita asked, uninterested in the conversation.

I took a deep breath. "Your niece, Jordan."

Rita Lorn froze in her spot. Now she looked interested. "What are you talking about? How do you know my niece? Where is she?"

"I'm right here," I said.

Rita burst into laughter. "Is this some kind of joke? You're not my niece! You're just a boy- wait." She grabbed my face with both of her hands. Her long nails slightly scratching my cheeks as she looked into my eyes. "You're Cynthia's kid aren't you? I'm sorry, but the clothes, your cap and that hair! You don't look like a girl."

I shrugged my shoulders and took off my cap, revealing my short, boy-cut haircut. "I get that a lot."

Rita smiled excitedly and wrapped her arms around me tightly. "How long has it been? Ten years? I've wanted to spend time with you for a long time, but you're mother never responded back to my letters. She didn't want me seeing you."

"Well now she does," I lied. "Mom sent me here for a few weeks. She said she really misses you." It was painful for me to have to lie to my only aunt who I just met, but if she found out about what was going on, she would call the police and ruin my plan. Besides, Mark could kidnap my mother if he found out the police was after him.

"That's great. I should give your mother a call. What's her number?" she said heading back inside her house for the phone. I followed her into her small living room. I fidgeted with the hem of my sweater.

"Um, mom's pretty busy right now. She went on a second honeymoon with her husband, Mark."

Rita settled down the phone, to my relief. "Oh right. You're mom's still married to Mark, huh? Well, what do you think of him? Is he treating you okay?"

I faked a smile. "He's just like a father to me."

Rita grabbed her purse and made her way to the door. "Well I could go on and on defending my brother about why he left and all, but I'm really late to work. I'm sorry I can't give you a tour of Castle Rock right now. You're not old enough for me to take you to the bar, but make yourself comfortable. I'll be back before you know it. And feel free to call me Aunt Rita," she winked before closing the door behind her. _Well, that went well._

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><p>Two hours later, I found myself wandering through the streets of Castle Rock. Into the night. Which I knew wasn't smart for me to do, but in my defense, what did I know at thirteen?<p>

Mark probably figured out I wasn't home by then. Where would he think I went? I was curious and scared to think about what he was capable of doing once he figured out where I went and what I was planning on doing. I shivered at the thought. I kept looking behind me as I walked every once in a while. It was a habit I had picked up.

It took me about twenty minutes to realize that I should probably head back to Aunt Rita's place. Then I realized, I did not know how to get back. I had sort of wandered off without remembering the way back. _Shit._

I came across a dark alley debating on whether I should walk through it. _Did I come this way?_ I had no idea. My instincts told me that the later it got, the more dangerous the alley would be. I took a deep breath in and began my long walk down the dark, empty alley. At least I thought it was empty.

I made it half way in before I realized I was being followed. I turned around to see about five or six tall, lean hard men in their early twenties right in front of me. I jumped back in fright.

"Aw look, he's is scared," one of the guys said in a teasing voice. The blond man right in front of me, who I assumed was the leader of the gang, took my green baseball cap from my head and held it up.

I jumped up, uselessly trying to reach for my cap. "Hey! That's mine. Give it back!"

The blond sneered down at me and threw the cap behind him, landing on a puddle of mud. "Look what we have here boys. Fresh meat," the blond man said pulling out a knife from his back pocket. My eyes widened at the sight of the shiny, sharp blade the man held in his hand.

"You think we should be doing this Ace?" another guy said coming up behind this "Ace" person. He too was blond.

"Shut up Chambers. I think I can do whatever I want. This little shit needs to be taught who's boss. Fresh meat is in our territory. Now he's gonna pay." Before any of the guys could do anything, I tried to run. Bad choice. They immediately got me and held me down to the hard, cold pavement. "Where're you goin' fresh meat? Ya know what they do to fresh meat?" Ace asked. Obviously I couldn't respond since he had his hand tightly over my mouth to keep me from screaming. "They cut 'em open," he said taking out his knife once again and held it out for me to look as the rest of the guys held down my arms and legs.

I tried to kick and scream before the knife got too close to me. I managed to let out a scream when I bit down on Ace's hand hard and he screamed in pain taking his hand away from my mouth as I felt his blood run through my teeth. Next thing I knew, a loud police siren could be heard from a close distance and the gang got up immediately and bolted out of the alley. I sat up, rubbing my arms as a gang of kids my age ran up to me. A tear escaped my eye but I quickly wiped it off before they could see it.

"Told ya it would work," I looked up to see a tall skinny kid with brown hair say to the rest of his friends showing them a tape recorder the size of a small book.

"We got 'em good, didn't we Gordie?" a blond kid with thick black glasses said to "Gordie" high-fiving him.

"Are you okay man?" another blond kid said kneeling down next to me, concern showing in his blue eyes. I now realized there were four boys. The police siren sound was coming out of the tape recorder the skinny kid had, fooling Ace's gang into thinking the police was coming after them. They weren't going to hurt me. They'd just saved my life.

"What?" I asked, a little woozy and confused since my head had banged against the pavement when Ace's gang tackled me to the ground.

The fourth kid, who was a little chubbier than the rest, ran to me, knelt down pushing the blond kid out of the way, grabbed my shoulders and shook me. "Are you okay?" he yelled in my ear, as if I was deaf. The sudden motion made me want to barf.

"Vern, you're gonna kill him!" thick glasses boy said.

"Stop shaking him like that, he's still in shock," skinny boy said.

"Vern" stopped shaking me. "Oh, sorry." He smiled awkwardly.

"I-it's okay. Where's my cap?" I asked, looking around. The room was still spinning a little for me.

"Right here...I don't think you want it back though," the blond kid with blue eyes stated picking up my cap from the puddle.

I took the soaked dirty cap anyway. _Damn it, that was my favorite cap._

I picked myself off the ground once I was feeling better. "Ew, what happened to your mouth? Did Ace punch you?" thick glasses boy asked, referring to my bloody teeth.

I spit on the ground. "Nope, I bit his hand."

"That's sooo cool!" the chubby kid said excitedly. "I can believe you bit Ace Merrill's hand. He's the toughest man in town! You're like a _God_ now."

I rolled my eyes, wanting to forget it. "Well I did. Now I hope you know, I can't repay you for saving my life. I don't have a lot of money on me."

"It's okay-" the skinny boy said before he was cut off by thick glasses boy.

"Wait, let 'em talk. Maybe we can work something out."

Blond hair boy rolled his eyes. "Shut up Teddy. You don't have to repay us. What's your name?"

"Jordan," I answered.

"Well I'm Vern!" the chubby kid smiled happily.

"This is Teddy," blond hair boy said pointing to the thick glasses boy, "Gordie," he pointed to the skinny kid with the tape recorder, "and I'm Chris."

"So that tape recorder trick, how'd you know how to do that?" I asked Gordie.

"I read it somewhere," he shrugged simply.

"Shadow Nights?" I asked, referring to a classic mystery novel I had read once.

"Yeah!" he said. "How'd you know?"

I smiled. "It's a classic. How can't I not know about it?"_ Finally! Someone who understood my love for reading._

"Okay, nerd alert," Teddy said rolling his eyes. Gordie slapped his arm. "Hey! What was that for?"

"At least I've opened a book. When was the last time you did?"

Teddy scoffed. "Two weeks ago, right before school ended. When was the last time you went on a date? Or french-kissed a girl?"

"Enough!" Chris said getting in between the two. "You're new here aren't you?"

"Yeah," I responded. "I come from Derry. I'm visiting my aunt."

"Who's your aunt? Maybe we know her?" Vern wondered.

"Rita Lorn."

The four boys mouth dropped simultaneously. _What's with these people? Why do men seem so shocked when I say Aunt Rita's name? _Then I remembered the way she was dressed before leaving for work...

"Shit, your aunt's hot man!" Teddy blurted out. "I heard she does _everything_." I shuddered a little at the way he said "everything". He was slapped a second time on the arm, but this time, by Chris.

"Shut up Teddy! That's his aunt you're talkin' about!" _Great. Now they think I am a boy too. _But perhaps it was a good thing. The less people that knew I was a girl, the better. The harder it would be for Mark finding me in Castle Rock. "Sorry man. It's just that your aunt is really popular here. But you probably know that, right?"

"No, I didn't. Thanks for the unnecessary information," I said sarcastically. I turned around, continuing my walk down the alley. After a while, I turned around to see that they were following close behind me. "What do you want?" I asked irritably.

"Where're you heading?" Gordie asked me.

"I'm going to my aunt's house."

"Your aunt lives that way, you know that right?" Chris asked, pointing to the opposite direction. I huffed. Without saying anything else, I turned to walk in the direction Chris had pointed at. Then I stopped when I realized something.

"Wait, how do you know where my aunt lives?"

Vern responded, "the whole town knows where your aunt lives!"

"SHUT UP VERN!" the three boys shouted in unison.

"What did I say that was so wrong?" Vern asked, confused. I assumed he was the clueless one from the group.

"We can take you to your aunt's house is what Vern meant to say," Gordie explained.

I thought about it for a moment. "On two conditions. You promise to stop calling my aunt a prostitute."

"Done," the all said eagerly.

"And you promise not to kidnap me."

Teddy raised an eyebrow in surprise. "Jesus, you've got trust issues. Why would we want to kidnap you?"

I shrugged, smirking at the response I came up with. "I've been through a lot of shit."

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><p><strong>Author's Note: Whelp, that's that. I hope you all enjoyed this chapter. Shadow Nights is a fictional book I came up with right on the spot. That will be referred to a lot in the story. Lots of stuff will come out of it and unravel later on. How does the gang come into play in terms of Jordan's mission? Well, you'll just have to wait and see! Thanks and review! Tell me what ya think! :)<strong>

**P.S- Don't forget to check out my Tumblr blog for last chapter for those of you who reviewed last chapter!**

**"IF I COULD ONLY HAVE ONE FOOD FOR THE REST OF MY LIFE? THAT'S EASY, PEZ. CHERRY FLAVOR PEZ. THERE'S NO DOUBT ABOUT IT." -VERN TESSIO**

**-Mimi1239**


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